The Ministry of Education is nearly done with its investigation into the death of Stella Maris student Gabriel Orellano. Today, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca confirmed that the investigation is wrapping up, and the findings will be shared with the public after the family is informed. When asked about a possible leadership change at the school, he mentioned that the current principal is set to retire in April.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“I think the report is almost complete. The ministry either today or tomorrow is having a meeting with the Belize Police Department. So that we can finalize our own report. So that is where it is. I expect that sometime next week we will have a final report. We have committed to meeting with the family first. We want to meet with he family, share that report, address it with them, share any questions or concerns they have regarding that report and it is an internal report. But as I have promised and committed after we done that, we will share that report with the public.”
Paul Lopez
“We have heard the principal in a recording makes some statements that does not sit well with certain members of the general public regarding autistic children. Talk about your knowledge of the principal, your understanding of her reputation and if she is fit to be in that position.”
Francis Fonseca
“I did not hear the comments, but principal Cantun has a long history in special education. She came from Orange Walk where she is serving at a special education institution. She came highly recommended. But we are reviewing everything. The truth is she will retire very shortly, at the end of April actually. So, in a sense it is a moot question because we will have to find new leadership for Stella Maris.”
The People’s United Party, in its Plan Belize manifesto, presented a policy paper that would advance the Education Agenda in Belize. One of the initiatives was to implement a new curriculum, a module that the Ministry of Education introduced at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Under its structure, students are assessed based on how well they grasp the contents. In this week’s edition of the Five Point Breakdown, we explore how the education system at the high school level has performed since 2020. The Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca, said while there have been quite a few achievements realized, there’s a lot more to complete. We got the perspectives of two high school principals who manage high schools that are on the north and south sides of Belize City on how the revamping of the curriculum has resulted in the students’ performance. Interestingly, while students at both schools have commonalities in weak areas, the COVID-19 pandemic is the reason for those weaknesses at one of the institutions, while attendance issues among its student population, mainly due to social challenges, was the reason for its students’ academic challenges. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
It’s a typical school day at Sadie Vernon High School, but only a fraction of the two hundred and two enrolled students is present. Students here receive free tuition, uniforms, daily meals, transportation, and learning devices. Despite this support, many students at the four Belize City schools in the Southside Upliftment Project still struggle with attendance.
Social Issues & School Attendance
Deborah Martin
Deborah Martin, Principal, Sadie Vernon High School
“Being absent, just because they want to be absent and you can see them on the street when you walk down the lane and so on. It tells a picture to you that, you know, I’m in school but I’m not necessarily in school. Sometimes parents may say, I need my child to come and help me pick up the younger brother or younger sister. You know, I need to send my child to pick up money from social and, you know, these are things that cause them to be out of school.”
Sadie Vernon, Gwen Liz, Maud Williams, and Excelsior High School were chosen by the Ministry of Education for the project. This initiative is part of a broader effort to enhance education quality in Belize, launched after the PUP came to power in 2020.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“The Education Upliftment Project has been very successful, really transforming lives across the country. We now have over twenty-one high schools across the country that are a part of that free education program. So, with that we’re about fifty percent of where we want to be.”
Marion Ali
“While the Ministry of Education has made efforts to improve the quality of education in Belize, one factor has hampered its effect. As Principal of E.P. Yorke High School, Karen Canto shares, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the performance of its students, particularly in math. As a result, the school has had to offer additional classes for them to catch up.”
COVID & Education
Karen Canto
Karen Canto, Principal, E.P. Yorke High School
“One of our challenges is deficiencies that COVID unfortunately brought on us because we have a lot of deficiencies in the basic skills that the kids need, as in English and math. We don’t even have to go beyond that. The basics as in multiplication, division, the basic skills, computation, a lot of them have lacking. They struggle to write; their penmanship is poor and reading cursive, for example – a teacher writes in cursive on the whiteboard, they can’t read it. Their handwriting, although they’re in first, second form, they’re writing like they’re in standard one. And we still have to have them ready for sixth form, right, so lately we have been trying to fill in the blanks. First and second forms do remedial in the evenings. Past students, E.P. Yorkers that are at U.B. or John’s, they come in four days of the week.”
We discovered that students struggle with similar subjects. According to Deborah Martin, the Principal of Sadie Vernon, math and literacy are particularly challenging for the students.
Problems with Math and English
Deborah Martin
“We have students with reading issues or they lack the foundational skills in reading and numeracy and even in the social aspect of it. And so, to fit that curriculum or localize it to our school, we can only take some of the things that they give us to put it into action here. And because we have to meet our students where they came and to help them incrementally improve, they may not be meeting the standards for certain levels at our high school.”
Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca stated that the goal of many Plan Belize initiatives is to raise education standards.
Francis Fonseca
“We unveiled for the nation our new competency-based curriculum. I’m very proud of that curriculum. Obviously, it’s still a work in progress in terms of getting adopted across our education system. Curriculum reform was another major commitment that we made, that we’re very proud of the fact that we were able to put in place this very progressive, very comprehensive, competency-based approach to learning and teaching. Another commitment we made was free education, and again there we’ve achieved what we started. We set up and established for the first time a science and technology unit as a part of the Ministry of Education acknowledgement and recognition of the importance of science and technology to education. We established the 501 Academy portal. We established the Teacher Learning Institute as a digital portal again for training our teachers.”
Fonseca also emphasized the ConnectEd Project, which offers free internet access to schools across Belize and an unprecedented number of scholarships for students to attend their chosen schools. We asked the two principals for their views on whether the quality of education has improved since these programs were introduced in recent years.
Has Education Quality Improved?
Deborah Martin
“We have incrementally improved, but we’re not where we’re supposed to be.”
Karen Canto
“ I came straight out of sixth form, no pedagogy, nothing. Today, almost everybody you interview is already a licensed teacher, and they already finished their diploma education, or their bachelors in education, so they are more qualified to deliver for sure.”
The minister highlighted areas needing urgent attention under Plan Belize 2.0, such as special education and vocational training.
Urgent Priority Areas
Francis Fonseca
“Stella Maris, we have planned, we’ve been working for two years on a plan to really rehabilitate, refurbish the Stella Maris School. One key area that I want to focus on moving forward is really more investment in TVET, more investment in technical, vocational education and training. If we are equipping our people, our young people in particular, with the skills and tools they need to find jobs.”
Fonseca announced that a hundred-and-twenty-five-million-dollar grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation will be used to reform the vocational education system and improve the legal framework for education. Marion Ali for News Five.
On Monday, Prime Minister John Briceño handed out robotic kits to several high schools during a ceremony in the Orange Walk District. These kits are meant to help students tackle problems they encounter both in school and beyond. Godfrey Sosa, the Information Technology Director at Belize High School, explained that the kits, which resemble small toys, can be programmed to perform various tasks. Dian Maheia, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Education, urged the students to make the most of these kits. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story.
Marion Ali, Reporting
On Monday, Prime Minister John Briceño donated robotic kits to four high schools in the Orange Walk District and another to the Banquitas USpace. The kits are for the youths who attend these institutions and who use the USpace. The PM encouraged the youths to advance their creativity by using the kits.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I felt that this was a good time for us to be able to then to provide kids to all the high schools, and also here at the USpace, that we can give more accessibility to our young people, for them to be able to, to use their creativity, and to be able to see how they could advance even more. By providing these kits, and the schools also encouraging more of our young people to get more involved in technology. I believe that Belize is going to be in great hands in the future.”
Robotics was introduced into the high school arena by students at the Belize High School. That institution’s IT Director, Godfrey Sosa explained to the youths how the kit works.
Godfrey Sosa
Godfrey Sosa, IT Director, Belize High School
“We have our Spike Prime kit. This is our robot. Now, we look at this kit and we may think that it looks like a small toy for a kid. It’s not. There are many sensors in this kit that we have line sensors, we have gyroscopes, we have temperature sensors, so there’s a lot that you can do. So building a robot is only one part of it, your creativity, how artistic you are in terms of the design, but there’s also the additional part because if I don’t program this machine, it will do nothing.”
C.E.O. in the Ministry of Education, Dian Castillo-Maheia shared that the whole idea behind the facility now called the USpace was to extend the public learning space for youths and now, that learning potential has been further widened by the donation of the kit to Banquitas USpace.
Dian Castillo-Maheia
Dian Castillo-Maheia, C.E.O., Ministry of Education
“There was a vision to start the USpace and that vision led us to open this space that’s open for you and the PM in his vision saw a way to extend and expand the reach of youth space. The BHS teachers, thank you for being here, because they’re going to share with us another way in which they have stood up and worked. They’ve taught and they’ve learned how to make robotics real. The kits that are going to be distributed today are going to be for your use, not for you to put on a shelf and then they’re going to collect dust and every now and again somebody wipes them off and says, oh yeah, remember when we got into that place and we may get that thing? Hm mmh. (Shakes hand)”
IT Director Sosa encouraged the youths to make the kits work so that they enable them to solve problems they encounter.
Godfrey Sosa
“In the future, we’re looking at those same people looking at problems that we have in our own country and see how we can then solve those problems. That is robotics. That is STEM. That is the whole concept of programming. How do we find solutions to our existing problems? And as simple as these look, it’s a start because the theme of this whole competition changes every year and it’s tied into problems in the community, agriculture, water, electricity, all of these things are problems and through a game this have you start to think, oh, this is how this works. How can I then become a part of the solution? How can I create something that can become a part of the solution?”
The Belize High School will hold a robotics competition on March fifteenth, for which ten schools have already registered. Marion Ali for News Five.
Today, two students from Saint Ignatius High School in Belize set off on an exciting journey to North Carolina. Seventeen-year-old Flevian Strand and eighteen-year-old Silsa Perez were awarded this trip by the STEM U Foundation of the USA for being the top fourth-form students in welding and non-destructive testing. We caught up with them at the Philip Goldson International Airport this afternoon to hear their thoughts on this amazing opportunity.
Jeaneane Neal
Jeaneane Neal, Principal, St. Ignatius High School
“STEMU Foundation is an NPO organization in the United States that offers support to STEM studies, anything that has to do with the STEM. St. Ignatius High School developed and keep developing, changing its curriculum. Fortunately, the Ministry of Education gives us that opportunity. It’s that leverage for us to be able to develop curriculums as it pertains to the abilities of our students. At St. Ignatius High School, yes, where we have students who are academically inclined, those who can build themselves in terms of spirituality. However, we decided to work on the STEM studies. We have students who want to venture into engineering architecture. And of course, we have the welding and nondestructive testing, which the students are able to tell you about.”
Silsa Perez
Silsa Perez, Student, St. Ignatius High School
“ Taking this advantage means so much to me because I have the opportunity to find more experience outside and not only here. My studies here are only general in home economics, which is cooking the primary, agriculture, which is my primary one, and welding and non-dt.”
Flevian Strand
Flevian Strand, Student, St. Ignatius High School
“ At first, when I heard it, it caught my attention. So I decided to try it. It’s really helped me a lot throughout the years. I’ve learned a lot actually and I hope in the future I learn more because I’m really interested in the program.”
This morning, the Leo Bradley Library in Belize City opened the doors to the USpace hub. This space offers resources for children to explore their curiosity in science and technology and experiment with digital tools that they may not have had access to. This USpace is the seventh to be launched in the country by the Ministry of Education and UNICEF. News Five’s Britney Gordon provides us with more details.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
The seventh Uspace hub was launched this morning in Belize City. This addition wraps up the Ministry of Education and UNICEF’s initiative to equip all six districts with one of the hubs. Minister of Education Francis Fonseca expressed his satisfaction with the success of the project.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“We think it’s a very exciting initiative. We’re very happy that we were able to get support from UNICEF. We’ve partnered with them. You know, so, and it’s a team effort. We’re working; it’s not only the Ministry of Education; it’s also the Ministry of Culture Niche in particular. All of us are working together really to create kind of transformative spaces, community spaces where, as I said, our young people can feel comfortable, where they can come to be creative, to express themselves. So, that’s the whole purpose of this. And yes, we have; this is the seventh one across the country. And we hope, with the support of organisations like UNICEF, that we’ll be able to do more in the future.”
The hub provides students with a safe space to learn about information technology and other topics. First-form student at Pallotti High School, Haily Chan, is grateful that she and her peers have access to a place to conduct research near their school.
Haily Chan
Haily Chan, Student, Pallotti High School
“I feel it is a more engaging experience. So when we, like from my first form, there’s a lot of our students that would need to do research. So we could just, after school, come over here, do our research, and if it doesn’t help, there’s always the books. Before they didn’t have the internet, but now they’re going to have it, so now you can do the research. It’s easier. Some people don’t like using books, so it’s going to be more helpful for us to be using the internet.”
Each district in Belize is now equipped with at least one USpace; however, Director of Science and Technology at the ministry, Namrita Balani, says that they are hopeful that more can be introduced throughout the country.
Namrita Balani
Namrita Balani, Director, Science and Technology
“There’s so many schools around, right? We have so many initiatives that we’ve launched. Some schools are piloting it. Some don’t. Some students want access to it, but their school isn’t doing it. So we said that we use space. When we thought about the space, we said we needed a curiosity space. We needed a space where people could create, where they could innovate, where they could experiment. And it has to be a safe space, right? You have to have people that were trained with the different initiatives. And we made sure that the space is filled with the tools that the students can use, but also the people here are trained with the different initiatives. And of course, it has to be inclusive.”
Balani explains that due to the ideal location of this USpace, students of Belize High School will collaborate with the ministry to provide mentorship to other schools. Karii Domingo, who has been studying robotics since she was eight years old, shares how excited she is to help other students foster a passion for her favourite subject.
Karii Domingo
Karii Domingo, Student, Belize High School
“I am now a mentor, but I was able to gradually work up the steps in robotics. So I started off as a member, doing the small Lego robots, and went on to be able to go to Singapore with bigger robots for another competition called First Global. And then another competition called First Robotics, where we got to go to Oklahoma and then make it to the Nationals. You build up. I hope that people or younger students are able to follow in my path. Whereas you start from, you’re learning about robotics, and you get to eventually get up to the part of being a mentor like I am now. I feel like USpace is an incredible opportunity for this because it helps young people like myself back then to have the opportunity to be able to learn more about robotics.”
The hub is equipped with a robotics kit, Wi-Fi, and other educational resources.
Namrita Balan
“We have this Lego wall, we have some Chromebooks, we have a desktop computer, and we launched People’s Archive, which is beautiful, where everyone can write history. And there’s a scanner; you can bring photographs that you can scan to it. We have the Lead Like a Girl programme, where we want to expose, encourage, and support girls in tech and just a lot of things happening. So we needed a space where we could equip it with tools. And students can come, and anyone, well, students, teachers, and the community can come and use it.”
The space has no age restriction and is available for all to visit.
Karii Domingo
“Many people that don’t have the opportunity; they won’t be able to fully know what this is about. But, given the opportunity, then many people can find their calling in technology, maths, or anything with STEM. If you have the chance to, I feel like everyone should come to USpace in order so that they can have that spark.”
This morning, the National Kriol Council proudly unveiled the second edition of the Creole English Dictionary. The original version came out in 2007, and this updated edition is packed with new words and revised spellings. It’s all part of the council’s mission to keep Belizeans connected to their rich culture and to promote Creole as a recognized language. News Five’s Britney Gordon was at the launch to find out how the council is working to keep the language vibrant and alive.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Creole is one of the most spoken languages in Belize, and for many, it’s their mother tongue or even the only language they know. However, a lot of Belizeans find it challenging to read and write in Creole, which has created a gap in Creole education. To tackle this issue, the National Kriol Council has just launched the second edition of the Kriol-Inglish Dikshineri.
Silvaana Udz
Silvaana Udz, Editor-in-Chief
“Well it got more than five hundred and sixty mew entries. And wa new entry might be a new sense ah dih word like the word taat/ T-a-a-t. You di think coconut tart right? But we gone da Flower’s Bank and di lady dih talk bout ‘no man. Tell ah ddown pan dih taat.inna dh dorey. Dih lee boad. Now, me neva know that but anybody weh know bout dorey and deh da riva bank know bout taat.So that get added in as a new sense ag di word taat.”
The new edition is a hefty volume, over six hundred pages long, and it’s available both online and in print. The council is doing its best to make the book as accessible as possible to everyone. Editor-in-Chief Silvaana Udz emphasized how vital language is in shaping and preserving a culture.
Silvaana Udz
“First of all, its free online. Access 501. You could get ot, download it free. And then we di try get wa app so you could quick search free. And soon you could get it, we gwain da Angelus and Brodies hopefully by the end pf the week. Today you could get it at the especial price of thirty-five dollars Belize. And the wole idea dah any lee money we mek wah be so small just fi mek more book. Cuz we want people get it.”
The council took feedback from the first edition of the dictionary, released back in 2007, to make these latest revisions. Silvaana Udz’s updated dictionary includes variations of words commonly used by Creole speakers. By standardizing the spelling, Udz explains, Creole is one step closer to being recognized as an official language.
Silvaana Udz
“If you use a standard orthography, then there is a right way fih spell it. You might have a variant way, an accepted variety because dah how people pronounce it. Like ‘fih’ lotta people say ‘fuh’. So fih, fah, fuh ,da one ah the words for ‘for’ weh got dih most variants. But when you standardize, you noh want too many variants cuz then you dih move wrh from the standard. So wah dictionary set put fih be desriptive. You di describe whe people done dih do. Bit the minute you get it codified, it become prescriptive. And it start prescribe down the road.Mek we check di dictionary. Mek we check the dictionary.”
The council calls this book a true labor of love for all Belizeans, urging everyone to help preserve and uplift the Creole language. They’re already looking ahead, with plans for a third edition expected to come out in the next five years. Britney Gordon for News Five.
At the end of Friday’s house meeting, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca also highlighted the need for better security at Stella Maris School. He announced an eight hundred-thousand-dollar investment to rehabilitate and refurbish the school compound, emphasizing that the school has always been a priority for his government.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“We are absolutely committed to ensuring that something like this does not happen again. So, there are immediate things we have to do. We have to address of course practical issues, look at security the gate, the fencing, the wardens, watchmen, all of those things. I want to make the point. I know it is a late hour, but I want to make the point that Stella Maris has a hundred and twenty-eight students. I think there is twenty-three teachers. We have fourteen support staff and then we have watch men and wardens. So it is not, we understand and have understood for a long time that these children need special attention. So we have a big group, big team. So what happened is a tragic accident. And what is unfortunate as well is that for the past two years we have been working on an entire project for Stella Maris, to upgrade and rehabilitate the compound. We have already gotten the funding. I think last figure I saw it is going to be an investment of eight hundred and fifty thousand in rehabilitation and refurbishing Stella Maris school, changing the entire fence. We are going to put up a much more secure fence, make it a lot more accessible for these kids.”
To wrap up tonight’s newscast, we’re excited to share the opening of a new USpace in San Ignacio. This initiative, driven by the Ministry of Education and UNICEF, aims to provide students with a vibrant space to learn, experiment, and innovate using digital tools. Now, let’s hear more from News Five’s Isani Cayetano.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The Government of Belize and UNICEF are continuing their mission to roll out USpaces across the country. This exciting initiative, spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, has already brought these innovative facilities to the Stann Creek and Toledo districts. Recently, the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena celebrated the inauguration of their very own USpace. Leading the charge is Namrita Balani, the Director of Science and Technology.
Namrita Balani
Namrita Balani, Director, Science and Technology
“We all had moments where we wish we had been exposed earlier, encouraged more and given a space to explore. That’s why we decided that USpace had to be more than just a room with tables and chairs, and computers. It needs to be a space where education, culture and technology meet, creating an environment where students can explore new ideas, connect with their heritage and use technology to experiment and innovate. A space where students can be exposed to new opportunities, a space where they can create in a safe environment, a space where they can innovate and discover the paths they never knew existed.”
Cayo Northeast Area Representative Orlando Habet, whose constituency proudly hosts the newest USpace, was present for the brief but meaningful opening ceremony.
Orlando Habet
Orlando Habet, Area Representative, Cayo Northeast
“I know that these initiatives are very special. I know looking at the social component where it says that the core feature of USpace is to provide a supervised and safe environment where children can engage in organized activities designed to encourage play for social interaction, learning and self-expression. Very, very, very, very important. We see what happens in our communities many times, young people don’t have those spaces where they can interact with their peers. And we have a saying that we’ve heard many times before that says, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
To keep students excited and engaged, they’ve created an environment that’s perfect for learning, experimenting, and creating. This effort has the full backing of UNICEF.
Natasha Mantock
Natasha Mantock, Education Officer, UNICEF
“Today, we gather to celebrate a milestone in our digital transformation agenda under the theme, “Connection to underscore the critical need for safe, child-friendly spaces where access and services to resources are needed for children to succeed. Our pivotal USpaces are leveraging technology to transform and accelerate learning and skills development represents a paradigm shift. We’re leapfrogging traditional methods to embrace digital innovation for every child wherever they live, wherever they learn. For this reason, UNICEF’s collaboration with the Ministry of Education, NICH and the Belize National Library Services continues to expand as it contributes to the realization of the right of every child.”
Today, teachers at Belmopan Baptist High School staged a sickout to protest the school administration’s behavior. Seven out of the school’s nineteen teachers called in sick. Despite this setback, classes continued as usual. News Five’s Britney has more details.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Nearly half of the teachers at Belmopan Baptist High School didn’t show up for work today, calling in sick to protest against several actions taken by the school’s administration. Despite their absence, the school continued to operate. We spoke with one of the teachers participating in the sickout to get their perspective.
Voice of: Baptist Teacher 1
Voice of: Baptist Teacher 1
“Most recently we had a security officer who was wrongfully terminated. And and all of this has led to amount of frustration amongst the staff members. And we are asking for A meeting with the entire board of management and at this juncture they have refused to have such a meeting. And that is the reason why we are taking these actions today.”
The teachers allege that since the new principal took over in August 2024, several employees, including those with over seventeen years of service, have been unfairly terminated. However, Pastor Ashley Rocke, chairman of the school and President of the Baptist Association of Belize, insists that these staff changes were necessary for the school’s improvement.
Ashley Rocke
Ashley Rocke, Chairman, Belmopan Baptist High School
“ I’ve watched as our school was manipulated by people that did not even belong to our association. So Baptist decided we’re going to take back our schools. We’re going to run our schools the way we want. And the way we feel that it is right to make sure that the kids get the education they need. We’ve had resistance. The last principal left. He resigned and he left. And so we were saddled with the responsibility of getting a new principal.”
The teachers shared that the previous principal was problematic, so they were initially excited about the new leadership. However, they now feel that the new principal consistently disrespects the staff.
Voice of: Baptist Teacher 2
“To come and tell us then know that, come and tell the teachers that the principal left because the teachers frustrate him is totally untrue because he himself condoned it. It is under their management, so how could it be that it is our fault? So that is one of the things that we see we are noticing. The buck stops with the chairman in this case and he can step out, step in and select who should run the school, a true leader. Recently, the chairman told us that they intentionally hired the current principal right now. I don’t know what he means by that.”
Rocke explained that there’s been a recent push within the Baptist community to reclaim ownership of their schools. This movement has brought about leadership changes, which haven’t been welcomed by all staff members.
Ashley Rock
“My contention as it relates to Baptist School in Belmopan is that I get the impression that the teachers want to continue to tell us how the school should be run. And I will not have it. I wasn’t afraid to say to them, this is our school. And if you don’t want to stay, you are free to leave. That was the reason they felt disrespected. But we have a process how we are going. We, even in the Baptist Association, we have decided how we are going to rec, captivate our schools and make sure that they’re under our guidance.”
To resolve the issues, the teachers requested a meeting with the entire administrative team. However, they were informed only three directors would be in attendance. Rocke maintains that this approach is the best way to approach the situation.
Ashley Rock
“As a board we were gonna sit down, listen to our directors, what they found, and then chart a way forward as to how to engage or better. Work with the teachers, if you will. But they didn’t want to give us that chance. They told us, you have to do what we want. We want all a unu come. And the last time that all of us went, it was a disaster. They were very embarrassing. Some of the things that they did while the meeting was going on was wrong. And I felt to myself, I will not be ambushed again. I will not go into no meeting where nobody will ambush me and try to pin me into no corner. So I told, I asked the three directors and they were willing to go.”
According to Rocke, the teachers have not been receptive to the changes brought by the new principal and continuously push back against her authority.
Ashley Rocke
“ The principal came on board and did revolutionary things for our school, right? But ever since she came, they continue to fight her. They continue to fight her. To bring her down. They continue to say strange thing about her. All the ladies’ intention was she knew how schools are on. She was once a vice principal in a high school. She came to our school trying to help us”
The teachers continue to push for better treatment and demand that their concerns be taken seriously. They maintain that mutual respect is conducive to a healthy work environment.
Voice of: Baptist Teacher 2
“We hope to get this matter rectified and all in the relevant stakeholders that they get on board and that we see that this matter be addressed, including the Ministry of Education. Because at the end of the day, we have our students interests at hand, and that is our ultimate goal, that they receive the best education.”
Rocke says that he is open to hearing the teachers, but has put his foot down about the way the meeting will be conducted.
Ashley Rocke
“ They either come and meet with the three directors and give us the opportunity to hear from the directors what the issues are. Because I’m not gonna meet with them again. I will not be embarrassed again. Last time we had a meeting, I was embarrassed and I felt the, the disrespect that they talked about was the disrespect they gave to me as the chairman of that school board”
This morning, at least seven teachers at Belmopan Baptist High School called in sick as part of a protest. They’re upset over what they describe as unethical and disrespectful actions by the school’s administration. The teachers are also demanding an audit to investigate potential mismanagement of funds. Minister of Education Francis Fonseca has acknowledged the situation, stating that the Ministry is aware of the teachers’ concerns and is taking steps to address them.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“ Yes, I’m aware of it. It was brought to my attention, I think on Monday and yesterday I asked the Deputy Chief Education Officer, Mrs. Cecilia Smith Ramirez, Ramirez Smith to go to the school to engage with them to meet with them. So I think it’s something that , she is working on. But we are aware of the issues and the concerns that have been raised. We are going to, of course, we have to as well work with the management and the board. You know, it’s not a government school. So we have to engage with the managing authority and the board. But yes, the ministry is actively looking into that matter.”
